High1
Chuncheon, Gangwon-do | league = Asia League Ice Hockey | founded = September 15, 2004 | arena = Eui Am Ice Rink, The Goyang SPART complex | colors = Red, Black | owner = Kangwon Land Corporation | GM = Park Byung-Cheol | coach = Kim Hee-Woo | captain = Hwang Byung-wook | media = SBSsports | name1 = Kangwon Land | dates1 = 2004-2007 | name2 = High1 | dates2 = 2007–present }}High1 (하이원) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chuncheon, South Korea, and a member of Asia League Ice Hockey. Formed in 2004, the team was initially made up of players from the defunct Korean league who didn't immediately move to Anyang Halla from the Hyundai and Dongwon teams as well as other disbanded teams and players who had returned from military service. Prior to the 2007-08 season, the team was known as Kangwon Land (강원랜드), named after the owner, Kangwon Land Corporation. History The team was originally formed as Kangwon Land in 2004, named after the owner. The team was formed with the intention of joining the Asia League and was expected to have an operating cost of 2 billion won. The owners also felt that the team's creation would aid in a bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The team's formation was first announced in January 2009. The team hired former Dongwon Dreams head coach, Kim Hee-woo. Their founding ceremony was on September 15, 2004 at COEX. Their first game was held at 1:00pm on October 5, 2004 against Korea University as part of the 59th Korean Domestic Championship. They lost their first game by a score of 3-2. However, they finished as runner-up and took third place in the Kangwon Cup in December of the same year. In July 2005 It was announced that Kangwon Land would be admitted to the Asia League. At that time the team also announced that it would spend 46 days in Canada training, including playing 10 games, in preparation for the season. discusses strategy on-ice with Jeremy van Hoof. Kim won two points titles his first year in the league.]]Kangwon Land became the second Korean team to enter the Asia League during the 2005-2006 season. They played 38 regular season games. All of their 19 home games were played in Chuncheon at the Eui Am ice rink. They were swept in their regular season series against Kokudo and the Nippon Paper Cranes while only managing to win one out of nine games against fellow South Korean team, Halla. They finished in seventh place with 28 points. The team also failed to break the top 10 in any of the point rankings. Joshua Liebenow led the team with 16 goals, Park Jin-hong led with 18 assists and Kim Kyu-hyun led the team with 26 points overall. Hwang Byung-wook led the team in plus-minus with a +3 for the season. Kangwon Land failed to make the playoffs as only the top six teams advanced to the postseason. After the conclusion of the season Kangwon Land played an friendly against North Korea. Kangwon Land won the match by a score of 3 to 1. In the 2006-2007 season the league reduced the amount of games played to 34 with the departure of the Nordic Vikings. During the season the team participated in the Korea Domestic Championship and took first place for the first time in their three year participation. After finishing out of the playoffs in their first season, they finished in fourth place with 62 points and advanced. They also swept their season series against Changchun Fuao and improved on the previous years performance against Halla by only losing a single game to them. The team played in mixed arenas, playing 11 games in Chuncheon, four games in Mok-dong and 2 games in Goyang. The points race also saw Kangwon Land perform much better. Tim Smith led the leagues in goals with 30 and Kim Kyu-hyun led the team with 38 assists, placed third in the league with 26 goals and 64 points. Kangwon Land had a total of 8 placings in the top 10 for goals, assists and points. Tim Smith also led the team in plus-minus with a +44 The team had to face Halla in the first round of the playoffs. They continued their season long success against them and swept them in three games. Kangwon's sweep of Halla marked the first time a non-Japanese team won a playoff series in the Asia League. After defeating Halla they were swept in three games by the Nippon Paper Cranes in the semi-finals. Even with the early exit from the playoffs, Tim Smith managed a second place finish in the assists category. With the two China teams merging into a single one, the league reduced the amount of games to only 30 in the 2007-2008 season. Prior to the start of the season Kangwon Land changed their name to High1. The team again won the Korea Domestic Championship in November 2007. High1 further improved and finished the season in second place with 58 points which included a sweep of the newly formed China Sharks. Coach Kim credit the entire team for doing well but singled out their goalie, Eum Hyun-seung as really shining. The team's home schedule was not as mixed as the previous season and they played 13 games in Chuncheon while playing 2 in Goyang. There was further improvement in the point rankings as Alex Kim ranked first in goals, third in assists and first points in the league with 23, 28 and 51 respectively. Tim Smith was tied with Kim for first with 23 goals and finished third in points with 46. The team had three other top 10 showings in the points rankings. Alex Kim also led the team in plus-minus with +32. Finishing in second place had High1 playing the Oji Paper in the semi-finals. Unfortunately for High1 Oji would sweep every series they played that year and capture the cup. Due to their quick exit, High1 failed to register in the postseason points race. At the start of the 2008-2009 season the Asia League increased the amount of games played to 36. High1 once again won the Korea Domestic Championship making it their third in a row. While they were enjoying success domestically, they were not able to continue their success of the previous season. High1 finished the season in fifth place with 46 points. They split their season series with Halla at three wins each. The team was backed to playing a mixed home schedule with the majority being played in Goyang. High1 played nine games in Goyang, 7 games in Chuncheon and 2 games in Mokdong. The team also fared poorly in the points race. Alex Kim's league leading goals from the previous year failed to make a repeat and while he still lead the team, he finished in seventh place with 15 goals. Ryan Haruo Kuwabara was tied for ninth place with 25 assists. Kim led with 36 points but it was not good enough for a top ten finish, he also led the team in plus-minus with a +12. With the top five teams moving on to the playoffs High1 had to play a short three game series against the fourth place Cranes. They were defeated in two games making it three years in a row where they were swept out of the playoffs. The league kept the amount of games on the schedule at 36 for the 2009-2010 season. High1 lost in the semi-finals of the Korea Domestic Championship to Korea University. At the mid-point of the season High1 was sitting in the middle of the rankings. However they ranked second in goals scored. High1 played four of their seven home games in Goyang. The team was also doing very well in the points race by December, holding seven of the top nine spots. Alex Kim and Tim Smith were once again leading the way with 56 points each. Honors *'All-Korea Championship' **''Winners (3): 2006, 2007, 2008 Media In July 2009 High1's parent company High1 Resorts signed a five year broadcast deal with SBS Sports to broadcast home games. Arenas In the 2009-10 season High1 plays home games both in The Goyang SPART complex in Goyang, as well as in the Eui Am Ice Rink in Chuncheon. They are scheduled to play 10 of 18 home games in Goyang. Prior to the 2009-10 season High1 also played home games in the Mok-dong Ice Arena. The Goyang Arena seats 2607 and contains 2 separate rinks. Team colors and mascot Logo ]] The High1 logo features a long-eared dog holding a hockey stick. The dog is wearing protective glasses and hockey equipment. The stick is drawn larger to give the impression that the dog is shooting. To the left of the dog is the High1 name. It has a base dark red color and is outlined in white and then black. The "H" in High1 features a tail line which is angled away from the rest of the logo. This is an updated logo as the previous High1 logo featured the mascot in a home jersey centered under the name "High1" in a black triangle. Jerseys When the team changed their name from Kangwon Land to High1 the jerseys did not go through a redesign other than to update the logos. Both the home and away jerseys feature a red bottom on the main body of the sweater and red cuffs on the sleeves. The Home jersey has a black main body with white numbers surrounded by a red outline. The away jersey features black numbers with a red outline. Both jerseys feature a cursive High1 on both shoulders in their respective opposite colors. Sponsorship logos are featured on the right and left upper chest. The red cuff on the right sleeve features a small version of the mascot and the left sleeve features a small blue alien mascot. In 2009 the team added the High1 resort logo to the red section on the front of the jersey as well as the name in hangeul in the red section on the back of the jersey. Mascot The High1 mascot is a large white dog that stands upright. It has long white ears and wears a blank High1 away jersey. The mascot also wears a gray winter hat and pair of gloves. In printed media the mascot is often shown wearing protective glasses, but the actual mascot doesn't wear them. It has two small eyes, a long nose, but no discernible mouth. Current roster updated September 20, 2009 warming up prior to the December 28, 2008 game vs the Anyang Halla.]] Leaders Team captains *Park Jin-hong 2005-2006 *Shin Eu-serk 2006-2007 *Lee Myoung-woo 2007-2008 *Song Chi-young 2008-2009 *Hwang Byung-wook 2009-''present Coaches *Kim Hee-woo 2004-''present'' Year-by-year record High1 (AL Hockey 2005–2010) complete records for previous seasons *prior to the 2008–2009 season, there were no shoot-outs and games ended in a tie Past import players * Dan Donnette 2005-06, RW * Steve Howard 2005-06, D * Josh Liebenow 2005-06, RW * Michael Tobin 2005-06, D * Steve McKenna 2006-07, D (Former Kings/Wild/Penguins/Rangers) * Pontus Moren 2006-07, RW * Bud Smith 2006-07, C * Chris Allen 2008-09, D (Former Panthers) * Brent Gauvreau 2008-09, C * Magnus Österby 2008-09, D References External links *Official website *Asia League Ice Hockey - Official site Category:Asia League team Category:South Korean hockey teams Category:High1